May 4, 2009 - 12:31pm
Can I fold too many times ?
When using slack dough for Ciabatta I get inconsistant loaf height. I may have overproofed one batch, but my question is to do with my (limited) understanding of dough strength through gluten development and folding.
Is there a practical limit to the number of times I can fold my slack dough i.e. can I fold too many times, or does the dough just simply refuse to be folded at some point because it has become too strong and therefore won't really allow me to continue with more folds?
EDIT: I just had another thought that goes to this topic: still regarding folding, is it better to do all the folding nearer the beginning, i.e. the initial fermentation, or is it ok to make folds throughout the entire fermentation and rising stages ?
Paul.
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The gluten will relax again after it sits a while. I could fathom over mixing by machine, but over stretching and folding would be tough .
Thanks for your opinion, I just had another thought that goes to this topic: still regarding folding, is it better to do the folding nearer the beginning ie the initial fermentation, or is it ok to make the folds throughout the entire fermentation and rising stages ? I have EDITED my initial post so this second question will now appear there too.
Pretty much everything I've made with stretch and folds is either a "no knead" over night in the fridge kind of thing, and you typically do a few stretch and folds then stick it in the fridge and don't monkey with it again apart from shaping. The few other recipies where I've used it it is done at the begining of the first rise. Somone on here was talking about a boule recipe he was working on that I think involved doing a series of stretch and folds as part of the boule shaping process, but that strikes me as the exception rather than the norm.
When I first started doing stretch & fold segments, I would always do the maximum number, but as I came to understand more about what stretch & fold does for the dough, I started doing as many or as few as necessary to achieve the proper dough consistency. What you want to achieve is a balance between extensibility and elasticity--strength and retractability. So do as many as you need to achieve a dough that feels right. If you do too many, then your dough will have too much elasticity.
--Pamela